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Well, after not being able to drive the 25 since putting it away last fall, and a road construction and water main installation which started last march we were finally able to take it for spin before putting it away for the winter. It certainly was nice not to have to dodge pot holes!! Hope the weather holds out a little longer, although there is already snow in the upper elevations.

Long story shortish! In 1995-6 John Rock, the head of Oldsmobile asked me if I could build a replica of the 1903 Olds Pirate to celebrate Oldsmobile's 100 years of racing. A correct 2-cylinder engine was non-existent but we did have a spare 1903 CDO engine to use as a basis for a 3/4 replica. The video gives me way too much credit as my best friend Tim Ohlendorf did the majority of the work on the car. As usual, I scarfed up the credit but this time unintentionally! One of the best weekends of my life surrounded by great race car drivers and wonderful conversations with them including Linda Vaughan. Truly a special week! Yes, I was young once and yes I appeared nervous on this deal as nothing was pre-planned or scripted. All of a sudden I got called over to get filmed....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-gHZnSj3cg

I don't know where you are geographically, but over here in SoCal they pop up, used on craigslist fairly regular. I've used them, I like them. Pick up one a guy bought and only used one time. Restoration finished, now it's just taking up space. Save yourself some $$$.

^^^THIS! I've had a very similar personal experience, though I did it with my eyes wide open. I bought a1967 Olds Delta 88 a year ago. This was a running, driving car when I got it (well, it's probably the first project car I ever bought that I actually drove onto and off the trailer!). I paid $3500 for this car. I now have about $10K into it and it's still not on the road (admittedly due in a large part to my lack of time to work on it). Knock on wood, the engine and trans should go back in within a couple of weeks. Note that this is by no means a restoration - this is work needed to make the car a safe and reliable daily driver. I had to completely replace every wear item in the suspension, steering, and brakes. I had to completely replace the exhaust. I had to rebuild most of the HVAC system due to unbelievable butchery by a previous owner. I bought new wheels and tires (OK, the aftermarket wheels and tires were a discretionary expense). I had to rebuild the motor which smoked badly. I had to rebuild the trans. I replaced nearly all of the cooling system. I had to replace most of the A/C system.
I still have not gotten to the upholstery or paint, which is passable for a daily driver but not great. Those expenses will happen after the car is on the road. I'll be lucky if I can keep this under $15K, and that's doing every bit of work except the upholstery myself (yes, I even made the exhaust system from mandrel bends). When I'm done, this $15K investment (plus a lot of my time) will net me a solid $12K car (if I'm lucky).
By the way, I wouldn't do anything differently...

I've been getting mine at a local farm co-op, and I've noticed slightly better mileage using it compared to other NE gas in the area. Stands to reason that a farmer co-op would have a blend that would give a farmer better fuel economy. They also have 50 cetane Diesel which I'm going to try in the Massey-Ferguson 135 tractor next time it needs fuel. The higher cetane supposedly gives quicker starts and better fuel economy.
Pump gas here is about to drop under $2/gallon, and it's tough justifying 75c more per gallon for the co-op gas, but then I think how easy the old station wagon starts with it, and no evaporative fuel smell, and right at 15 mpg when it barely gets 13 on the crap at the pumps...
What's really a pisser is that ALL gasoline is ethanol-free until it goes into the tanker truck. Ethanol gas isn't stable enough to store in tank farms, so they add the crap to the tankers just before they hit the road and hope the vibration on the trip will mix it thoroughly. Then they charge us a premium for non-ethanol gasoline. Just goes to show you what a government subsidy can do for a product.

The fact that it's a snide remark doesn't mean that it isn't true. There are far too many people whose only exposure to the old car hobby is watching cable "reality" shows like Ass Monkey Garage where they claim to make thousands of dollars buying old cars below market and flipping them at auction. You know that's not the real world, but it leads to the fantasy on the part of the uninitiated that any old car is an "investment". Considering the frequent complaints from members on this forum of being asked "what's it worth" by people, I think it's fair to say that the general public has a very skewed perspective on the old car hobby.

Tuesday Evening October 10, 2017: Preparation and installation of the dash.
This is an exciting one! While I was at work, I used a little fine pumice and acrilustre on all my plastic knobs and pulls to try to clean them up best I can. Got home around 8:00 and began laying parts out to do some preparation before installing the dash panel. Well, one thing led to another and here I am, three hours past my normal bed time, but had to show the results:
Fine pumice with a slow speed wet cotton wheel. This removes the surface staining and smooths out some imperfections.
The next product is called Acrilustre. It gives acrylic a nice shine and smooth appearance. Puts a little gloss on it too.
Got home at 8:00 tonight and got right to it. Laid a heavy cotton tarp thing over the kitchen island and began pulling parts out of the "parts storage room"
And the other parts and fasteners I would need
The knobs and pulls look a lot nicer after the pumice and polish.
So, I figured I'd do some preliminary build up while the dash was in the kitchen. Much easier access to a lot of this stuff.
First, install the missing four trinidad nuts to keep the speaker grille tight to the dash panel.
Build the dash ash receiver. Run the screw through the inner hole, the front backing plate, then the wood grained plate, through the metal and finally into the pull knob.
The screw is passing through three pieces of metal at this point.
Slip the metal trim piece over the screw and screw on the pull.
Slide it into position and one thing on.
Install last night's project, the glove box clock into position in the door. There are very short special screws for this so you don't dent the outside door finish.
Looks sharp in there!
Next, push through your glove box lock, attach the locking cylinder with one screw and that's it.
All these little parts that I spent hours wire wheeling clean, painting....Nice to see all those bags emptying out.
Attach the lock plate to the top of the glove box opening.
Attach the hinge to the door
Again, these are 10-32 screws. Watch your length if you are replacing with new fasteners. I'm re-using all the original stuff here.
Attach the hinge through the bottom, being sure when the door opens it does not hit the bottom of the panel. It will ruin the finish quickly.
All the screws are adjustable, so take your time here with all four screws to get the door to line up nice.
Once satisfied with the fit of the door, do the final adjustment of the door catch and tighten it down.
Next, I installed a new glove box, Only two screws here.
I found it easier to kinds "square off" the upper corners a little. It just seemed to sit better.
Grey felt lined. Glove box stuff is now complete.
Next, install the wiper actuator. Remove the large nut, serrated washer and the pot metal housing.
Align the slot with the slot in the dash.
Once through, simply reinstall the pot metal part, the serrated washer and the nut.
Then, install the cigar lighter. I took this all apart and cleaned it all up.
Remove the outer brace that supports it, slide it into position
And again, once through, put the support brace over the entire piece and tighten it down.
READY TO GO IN!!! I think I did as much pre-install that I can. (That map reader is just sitting there for the picture. I have to build that socket in the car tomorrow)
Out to the garage. I placed a carriage bolt through the hole where the rear hood retainer drops down.
This is temporary so I can install the radio mount inside and finish all the under dash wiring.
Assemble the radio mounting hardware.
And attach it to the carriage bolt.
OK.. The only other thing I did inside the car was to loosen all four of the nuts holding the instrument cluster to the sub frame.
Just in case it had to move slightly while the dash was being seated.
Remember, it's late. Everyone is asleep. I'm working alone so I don't have photos of it actually being installed, but I do have ....
This! It actually fell right into position. I tacked it in with four screws for now.
I hooked up the light switch and ran the two screws that secure the cowl vent arm to the bottom of the dash.
So, I'm ready for tomorrow, when I hope to be installing the steering wheel, horn stuff, and the radio.
The woodgrain is just beautiful.
It's 1:16. It's now Wednesday. I'm beat.
Have a great day out there!
Gary

There are lots of decent shops, the guys who do the Pebble Beach winners are very busy and most won't take new customers. A PB chrome bill for a pre war big car can run 75k to 150k depending on condition and the car.

I had all of the chrome for one of my '57 Buick Specials done by Bills Chrome in Jeanette, PA. Excellent work! Guarantees his work. Small shop in that it is pretty much a one man shop as Bill does all the chrome work himself. Usually a two month lead time if I recall and all of my work was completed when he said it would be ready. He did the work on a Riddler Award car a few years back if I recall. I felt he was a great guy to work with and he was recommended by a small private museum/collector. His work is great but EXPENSIVE!
Gary

All,
A lot of times component suppliers like Carter, Rochester, Guide, Harrison, Packard Electric or any of the others would have to produce their components months in advance of when they would be put into the vehicle during the final assembly process. The car division (Buick in this case) made a decision to do a dual quad set up for 1964. That decision was done well in advance, maybe 9-12 months before they would actually need the parts. They would most likely get some pre-productions ones that they could use to test on the engine and then in the pre-production cars. This would allow Buick to determine what the Torque and Horsepower results would occur. The GM Proving Grounds or other testing facilities would do this evaluation and these tests are all done a long time before the production would start. The pre-production cars would never be sold. As you might imagine the suppliers of components would have to get their act together quite a long time before production. This would mean that carburetors with very early 1963 dates would be easily explained on 1964 production cars, since 1964 vehicle production could start in the summer of 1963 with Pilot and early production saleable cars.
Additionally, the car divisions would provide the suppliers production forecasts as early as they could of the various components they would need for production. In the 1960s we didn't have the Just-In-Time or Kanban theories being used to much extent in domestic auto plants. That means that Carter could have taken the production forecast and stock piled the parts and ship to the Motor Plant when they got orders. This projected order would also impact the unit cost Buick would have to pay for the components. With concept that lowest cost is preferred, therefore many decisions in the supply chain would have been made to keep the cost as low as possible. That would impact order sizes and production batch size at the component supplier. Storage of completed product and cost of inventory would also be considered. Warehouse storage was cheap in those days. Component suppliers like Carter would also have to let their suppliers know what, when and how many parts they would need so this same thing propagates through the entire supply chain.
In today's environment, with JIT and Kanban, which basically started in Japan in the 1950's but didn't really take on in the US until the 1980's, the idea is not to get too many parts built and in the system until is was really needed. They don't want to have situations where scrap is built or campaigns are required to fix components in the system, so make the parts as close to when you are going to use the is best. Not so before around 1980.
I worked for GM as an engineer and one of it subsidiaries for over 30 years. So I have seen some of this in real time.
I hope this helps clarify the date codes and disparity between the code on the carb and its use.
Rock On
gord

Can't post what wasn't there Smitty. No '54's were even registered for the show or in the car corral. There was one there however, a beautiful Gull Grey Skylark that when I complimented the owners on the color of it, all I got was a head nod, no thank you or even so much as a smile, I just kept walking and had not planned to even post a picture of it. But if it will make you happy ...

A quick update about the work: I’m preparing the body for the paint. It’s a tedious work as the shape of the car is rather complex. The picture is almost like a real car in a body shop with some progress. There are high and low spots; when sanding the red epoxy primer, most of the high spots are gone, but not always: when the brass can be seen, it has obviously not the correct shape. Some brass can be removed by filing, but I have to stop before the material is too thin or, worse, has a hole. Low spots are filled up with some filler. Once sanded, the surface is getting a thin coat of primer and the chase to high/low sports continue…I was convinced that the LH rear quarter was fine and as you can see on the picture, it was not.
Hood, roof and trunk lid are ready; the remaining elements not yet. It will take a long time until I will be satisfied.
During curing time, I’m covering some parts with leather which is .1 to .2 mm (0.004 to 0.008”) thick; unfortunately, the leather I have is not the right color. I will show the covered parts only when they have been painted with the proper color; I’m awaiting leather paint for the next few days.

Great minds think alike.... I went out this weekend to get some pictures specifically to resurrect this thread! It was a bit cool (wife put on two sweaters) but she endured the trip with the top down. Basically drove around Vancouver looking for some nice leaves but with how cold my wife was, I thought I should keep it within a 10min drive of the house. Here are some of the shots I was able to get with the Electra with some fall colors! A friend down in Tacoma Washington also posted some fall pics with his 67 Wildcat, and with his permission, I've reposted a couple here.

First, collect about two garden wheelbarrows full of money and spread it around. Actually, someone else here came up with measuring restoration costs by the wheelbarrows full of dollars. Landmark: today we set the completed chassis on the ground for the first time. Loaded it on the trailer and tomorrow it goes to the restoration shop to have the body, which is undercoated and painted on the bottom, installed. Bob H

I would buy the repros, coat them with auto wax and be happy. Keep the old ones in case the new ones rust out. But they should last for many years if you take care of them. For a driver I don't think it's worth the extra cost to rechrome the originals. Plus if you get in an accident the repros are cheap to replace.

Gary, I am still in the tear down stage of my restoration but it is encouraging to continue to see your progress. You continue to keep me inspired to keep plugging away at my project. I still have a long way to go before I will even start considering paint but I look forward to the day that I can start seeing your project ending and mine getting closer to that point.